Ill-fitting skirting board

[Zaxon]

After removing a gas heater in our lounge, we're left without a skirting board where the heater once stood. I attempted to locate a matching skirting board from DIY stores, but due to the age of the house, modern SBs aren't the same.

I've gone ahead and planed down a piece of timber to match the piece I need. It's not bad - first timer. However, the board is slightly thinner than the actual SBs already there.

So, should I place packing behind it (and what type of packing?) so that my board shows at the front, or should I leave the board a little smaller and "skim" over it with joint compound or builders bog to bulk it up to match the existing skirting?

 

[foxhole]

Pack behind with plastic packers or a thin piece of hardboard and back fill with decorators caulk.
http://www.servicecentral.com.au/resources/articles/How-to-cut-and-fit-skirting-boards/595

 

[Zaxon]

Pack behind with plastic packers or a thin piece of hardboard and back fill with decorators caulk.

OK. I do need to use some filler in some places too. For instance, there is about a 1/2 cm gap between the end of my board and the start of the existing one.

What would the outcome of using joint compound vs putty vs decorators caulk vs builders bog be for filling up gaps of that size?

And from another perspective, since we removed wall paper and many layers of paint on the wall in this room which has left the wall quiet a mess, I need to skim the wall with joint compound. Is there anything stopping me from treating my skirting board as just another thing to skim with plaster?

 

[foxhole]

There is often a small amount of movement on skirting which means any filler which will not flex will crack and fall out, so plaster is unsuitable. Builder bog [two part epoxy wood filler to our UK readers] is very tough but does not suit gap filling as it required heavy sanding to smooth and is better suited to filling flat easily accessed surfaces [you may be able to use on a joint as long as you can get access right across to sand].Putty is totally unsuitable [unless it means something else in OZ].

 

[Zaxon]

There is often a small amount of movement on skirting which means any filler which will not flex will crack and fall out, so plaster is unsuitable. Builder bog [two part epoxy wood filler to our UK readers] is very tough but does not suit gap filling as it required heavy sanding to smooth and is better suited to filling flat easily accessed surfaces [you may be able to use on a joint as long as you can get access right across to sand].Putty is totally unsuitable [unless it means something else in OZ].

What you're saying about the movement makes total sense. Afterall, that's why we use silicone rather than grout between tiling and, say, sinks.

So I could treat the 1) joints/gaps (which may move) and 2) adding thickness to the new skirting board (which shouldn't move within itself) as two separate tasks.

Taking the thicknessing first...currently, the board is screwed into the plasterboard and then into studs. I have this fear that trying to find/create packing wood that will exactly push out the board by the perfect amount to make it flush with the surround SB would be a massive task. I'm summizing that spreading on some joint compound (or polyester resin) and using a spatula to bring the board to the right thickness (like icing a cake) would be far simpler. But not having tried either approach yet, I could be wrong.

As to joints, typically the top of the SB and the plasterboard seems to be done with decorators caulk (which I believe isn't sandable). I could use the same to fill the gaps between the skirting boards, but I could potentially use polyester resin because I can easily sand the boards in my case. Does the resin cope with movement? Or perhaps it bonds the two pieces of skirting board into one.

Putty means to us http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wood_putty which can be water based, and seems to be sandable.

And to clarify, builder bog is two part polyster resin. Forms something like similar to balsa wood. It can be sanded, chiselled, drilled, just like wood. Epoxy resin is glue (eg: araldite).

I also wonder if I taped over the gap between my board and the ones on either side and then plastered it whether that would work? This works on two sheets of plasterboard which would otherwise have movement in them.

 

[foxhole]

I see, you only mentioned putty and completely different product to wood putty.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Putty
The epoxy filler I refer too is not glue, it's a bit like car body filler[you could use that as an alternative] set very hard.
We don't have Builder bog over here, at least not by that name.
Plaster won't be any good even with tape,[ plasterboard does not shrink and expand like timber.]
You can get plastic packer that come in sizes from 1-6mm allowing just about any gap to be matched with single or mixed packers.
https://multifixings.com.au/categorysub.php?catid=-1&scid=119

 

[Zaxon]

I see, you only mentioned putty and completely different product to wood putty.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Putty[/QUOTE]

Correct. Here, we tend to speak of oil based vs water based putty, and therefore "putty" could equally apply to both. You'd know by the context.

We don't have Builder bog over here, at least not by that name.

OK. Well, polyester resin is pretty amazing stuff. Sounds like you have an untapped market.

Plaster won't be any good even with tape,[ plasterboard does not shrink and expand like timber.]

OK. I didn't realize that plasterboard was that much more stable.

You can get plastic packer that come in sizes from 1-6mm allowing just about any gap to be matched with single or mixed packers.

The other difficulty I have is that, as well as being slightly too thin, the skirting board (which is essentially wedged shape) wasn't quiet cut on the same angle as the existing board. So I'm not sure how packers would address that.

In any event, I've gone ahead and used builders bog to fill the gap at the end of my board and "glue" it to the existing boards. It dries hard and time will tell whether it can withstand wood expansion/contraction but it a product ideal for patching up wood.

To correct the thickness and angle of the skirting board itself, I've used joint compound. As to how well it will hold, we'll have to wait and see. It's sitting on the board but not between them. Here, too, I could have used builders bog, but it's tricker to work with, and the plaster was far easier.